Ethereum’s credible neutrality makes it the only settlement layer everyone can agree on. The EEZ builds on that: specialized zones each optimized for a different purpose: nation-state compliance, security-first infrastructure, low latency, consortium coordination. Individually interesting. Together, transformative. The panel explores what happens when these zones compose. Ethereum stops being a single chain and becomes an economic operating system.
What Vitalik Buterin said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Vitalik Buterin discussed the Ethereum Economic Zone (EASY) as a rethinking of L2s to be more integrated with Ethereum, offering benefits like lighter infrastructure, no need for new accounts, synchronous composability, and better bridging with ZK proofs. He identified future directions: privacy-focused L2s like Intmax, Aztec, Tornado Cash, Railgun, and Privacy Pools; high-TPS specialized use cases like Lighter; integrated oracles, which he called a 'skeleton in the closet' needing security improvements; and enterprise-specific L2s like Orin's Interfold. On nation-state chains, he noted a pattern of failed consortium chains and suggested use-case-dependent solutions, including NFTs on mainnet. He argued the base layer must balance minimalism with preventing walled gardens, and EASY helps by creating interoperability standards. For 2035, he would gauge success by seeing high-TPS DeFi and privacy L2s with easy deposits, withdrawals, and cross-composability, plus non-financial L2s like DAOs.
Key takeaways
EASY aims to make L2s deeply integrated with Ethereum, reducing infrastructure needs and enabling synchronous composability.
Privacy-focused L2s like Intmax, Aztec, Tornado Cash, Railgun, and Privacy Pools are underrated extensions of Ethereum.
Integrated oracles in L2s are a higher priority than pushing to stage two, given current oracle security gaps.
Nation-state blockchain projects often fail with consortium chains but may later adopt Ethereum for specific use cases.
By 2035, success would be high-TPS DeFi and privacy L2s with easy cross-composability, plus non-financial L2s like DAOs.
Numbers and commitments
Figure
What it refers to
Type
At
five or 10 years
timeframe for future Ethereum ecosystem development
0:39Is it primarily an economic thing, like a single market sense, or is it an economic operating system?
3:23So if you think five or 10 years in the future, if you sort everything that anchors to Ethereum into a few buckets, what are they?
8:55Do you see Ethereum becoming the ultimate settlement layer between nations that don't speak anymore?
11:04Should it be the base layer's job to serve users at all, or should it be more of a neutral ground that other networks build user experiences on?
14:22If I had a crystal ball and it would allow me the answer to one question, whether a specific kind of network exists in the Ethereum Economic Zone in 2035, what network would you ask about to gauge success?
Yeah, absolutely. So guys, I'll leave some time for questions from you in the end. So if you have questions already, think on what you want to ask. We already heard Martin's and Jodi's and Philippe's take on the EASY. So...
The term Ethereum Economic Zone obviously does a lot of the heavy lifting here. But what makes the EASY in your head? Is it primarily an economic thing, like a single market sense, or is it an economic operating system?
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Buterin, V. (2026, June 16). Vitalik Buterin and Friederike Ernst. Ethereum Economic Zone [Interview transcript]. Dappcon Berlin. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/991516/
